Imperious Neil Robertson cruises into second round in Riyadh

Neil Robertson cruised through to the second round of the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters with a comfortable 5-1 win over China's Gong Chenzhi in Riyadh.

The former world champion, who is aiming to claw his way back up the world rankings after a dismal 2023 campaign, fired back-to-back breaks of 103 and 94 to set up an intriguing showdown with Mark Selby on Tuesday.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s debut in the competition on Tuesday will come against China’s Lei Peifan, who scored three half-centuries in a 5-2 win over Leicester’s Joe O’Connor.

Ben Woollaston won the last two frames to score a notable 5-3 win over Iran’s Hossein Vafaei, while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh reeled off the last five to sink Chris Wakelin in a decider.

There was no more magic from Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham who, fresh from firing a maximum break in his opening match on Sunday, fell in another final-frame decider to China’s Wu Yize.

Yize faces Judd Trump as the big names enter the fray on Tuesday, with world champion Kyren Wilson starting out against another Chinese player, Liu Hongyu.